This blog is about giving voice to the voiceless in occupied Palestine by myself and other contributing journalists who have seen first-hand the horror of Israeli apartheid.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

U.S. pressing Israel to bolster pro-Abbas forces in Gaza

By Aluf Benn

Haaretz 20 May 2007

The United States is pressing Israel to help bolster securityforces in the Gaza Strip that are loyal to PalestinianAuthority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Major General Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator,recently discussed the function of the pro-Abbas PresidentialGuard and National Security forces with senior Israeliofficials.

The Americans believe that strengthening Abbas loyalists anddeploying them in friction points along the north of the stripand Philadelphi route in Rafah will eventually improve thesecurity situation.

Western officials who studied the battle near the Karnicrossing last Tuesday concluded, contrary to the IDF'sassessment, that Abbas' forces had performed well despitetheir losses and had succeeded in warding off a larger Hamasforce. They found that Hamas had not won a decisive victory inthe battles in the Strip and urged taking steps to strengthenthe pro-Abbas forces.

A 470-strong Presidential Guard force, which had trained inEgypt, returned to Gaza last Tuesday via the Rafah crossing.Defense establishment sources said there was no need tocoordinate the force's entry with Israel as the men wereunarmed.

The defense establishment is undecided about helping tobolster the pro-Abbas forces and enabling Abbas to pay theirwages. Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh is the mainadvocate for helping to strengthen the Abbas loyalists.

"The idea is to change the balance, which so far has leaned inHamas' favor. Well-trained [pro-Abbas] forces could help tipthe balance," Sneh told The Washington Post.

Defense officials rejected the IDF's evaluation that Abbas andhis forces had lost the battle for control of the Gaza Stripand there was no point in helping them. The officials said theIDF was prejudiced against Fatah and its troops' capability,and that their evaluations were not based on a thoroughexamination of the battles.

However, there is also a controversy in the U.S. about thesituation in the PA. Senior White House officials say Abbas'failure to handle the situation and his keeping away from Gazareflect his inadequacy.

The IDF believes that Hamas has a considerable advantage overFatah in the confrontation with Fatah in the Gaza Strip."Hamas men are trained, equipped and more resolved than theirFatah counterparts, even if the latter outnumber them inweapons," an IDF source said.

The source said that senior defense officers identified withFatah have taken their families out of the Gaza Strip for fearHamas would harm them.

The head of the research division of Military Intelligence,Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, on Friday told the diplomaticcorps that the Hamas modus operandi in Gaza was identical tothat developed by Hezbollah in South Lebanon. "Hamas is takingover Fatah and Abbas' properties and equipment that theinternational community is bringing into Gaza," he said in anintelligence briefing at the Dan Hotel.